In recent years, Korean pop culture has drawn ever-increasing interest from all over the world, often leading a curious group of international enthusiasts craving further exploration of the other sides of Korean culture.
As part of the outreach efforts to meet such demands, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Arts and Culture Education Service (KACES) developed a program to deliver a series of educational programs on Korean culture to youths and communities around the world. The program offers workshops and classes in some of world’s largest cities including New York, Paris, Beijing, London, and Sydney.
The program explores diverse aspects of Korean culture ranging from movies, music, dance, traditional crafts, and design that relate to the participating cultures. The series of practical workshops, master classes, and public events were designed to stimulate discussion on cultural differences and seek ways for innovative cultural convergence, through attempting to combine traditional Korean dance with jazz or apply quilting techniques in bojagi, a traditional Korean wrapping cloth.
Each session is organized in close collaboration with regional institutions, including the New York Philharmonic, the National Library of France (Bibliothèque nationale de France), Goldsmiths, the University of London, and the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
| A group of youths joined by creative mentors participates in the filmmaking process workshop in Beijing, China (Photos courtesy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism). |
The first of the workshop series was held this August in Beijing. Fifty-seven Chinese and Korean students studying in the capital of China attended a comprehensive hands-on workshop and studied filmmaking practices. Under the guidance of creative mentors, groups of youths collaborated on the production process and shot digital movies with various themes including school life and friendship. The final product of this intensive collaboration was previewed at the CJ CGV multiplex at the Beijing Olympic Stadium, in the presence of Korean actor Jung Il-woo and film producer Kwak Gyeong-taek. The event, which drew large crowds, was covered several times in the local media and newspapers.
Moving on to New York, the Culture Ministry and the New York Philharmonic have been running a composition workshop for kids since September. At the workshop, children explore the sound of Korean traditional instruments including the haegeum and gayageum, joined by Korean musicians Kang Eun-il and Kim Jin-hi. The kids will learn how to turn their creative inspiration into songs through cross-cultural improvisation. The children’s compositions will be unveiled in December at the Lincoln Center, where they will be performed by members of the New York Philharmonic.
In October, Goldsmiths, the University of London, and KACES hosted the Convergence of Culture Through Design event, which includes a series of design workshops, lectures, and debate sessions, attended by Korean bojagi artist Kim Won-sun alongside quilt designers including Radka Donnell. Participants designed crafts inspired by Korean traditions such as bojagi and discovered new realms of design opportunities through blending the techniques of Korea and Britain. An exhibition featuring the results of the workshop will be held on October 31 at Goldsmiths.
| A lecture on Korean traditional crafts and a hands-on workshop held at Goldsmiths, University of London (Photos courtesy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) |
The National Library of France, which returned the Oegyujanggak royal book collection to Korea earlier this year, will hold a children’s storybook workshop from October 31 to November 3. Local art teachers currently active in Paris will reinterpret tales for children inspired by dancheong, the traditional Korean decorative colors on wooden architecture, and make shadow pictures. A mini-performance of a shadow play will be showcased on November 3 at the National Library of France, expected to be attended by around 180 participants including children and art education experts.
In November, the Culture Ministry brings to the University of Sydney a workshop titled the Soul of Traditional Korean Music, led by Sydney-based drummer Simon Barker and traditional Korean musician Kim Dong-won. The session will blend the sounds of samul nori, a percussion ensemble for four different Korean traditional instruments, with jazzy notes. The outcome of the workshop will be performed on November 27 at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
The last program of the annual series is set to be held in Los Angeles in the month of December. For this event, a series of dance workshops will bring a modern edge to tradition, combining dynamics and styles of Bongsan Talchum, one variety of the Korean traditional maskdance, with jazz dance moves. A concert is set to take place on December 21 at Schonberg Hall of the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism seeks ways to enhance mutual cultural understanding among participating communities through the program. “The Culture Ministry is looking to keep the momentum of such an initiative rolling and expanding the scope of the program to reach out to a wider region and cover more genres,” said an official at the culture ministry.
By Hwang Dana
Korea.net Staff Writer
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